Consumer Analytics

RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, N.C. — Global e-commerce software provider ChannelAdvisor is hosting a webinar to help retailers prepare their e-commerce operations for the upcoming holiday season.

Hosted by ChannelAdvisor CEO Scot Wingo, the webinar, titled "The Top Ten Essential Holida To-Dos for Online Retailers," will offer retailers 10 must-dos in order to capitalize on increased online shopping during the holiday months.

ARMONK, N.Y. — Retailers that want to grow sales and improve customer loyalty would be wise to invest in mobile shopping. According to a new report from IBM, retailers experienced 15% growth in sales from mobile devices. Conversely, sales traced to social media were down 20%.

Armonk, N.Y. -- Mobile shopping rose in the second quarter while social media sales fell, providing an indication of where U.S. retailers may invest in order to capture the attention and loyalty of the digital consumer, according to a new report from IBM.

The IBM Retail Online Index, a cloud-based analysis of the online retail sector, reported that retailers experienced 15% growth in sales from mobile devices but saw a 20% decline in sales traced to social media based on a much smaller base over this three-month period.

New York -- Simple demographic targeting does not weight advertising exposures toward households that have greater purchasing value, according to a study by Catalina Marketing released Monday. The study shows that, for a cross-section of major consumer brands, an average of just 15% of television ad exposures reach the households that account for 80% of sales. Meanwhile, brand advertisers deliver 64% of exposures to households that account for just 2% of sales.

SEATTLE — Amazon.com is growing its presence in the highly competitive gaming market with the launch of Game Connect, a new service that enables customers to discover a new category of free-to-play and multiplayer online digital games and have virtual goods delivered directly to their game accounts.

Amazon's new service allows customers to link their game account to their Amazon account so any subscriptions and virtual goods purchased are sent directly into the game without copy and pasting a code.

CHICAGO — Retail sales and foot traffic will see a boost in late summer as the back-to-school season looms, according to the latest ShopperTrak report.

After a sharp decline in 2009, year-over-year back-to-school sales improved only 1.8% in 2010 before increasing 4.5% in 2011, ShopperTrak noted. Year-over-year retail foot traffic percentages also have declined during the past four back-to-school shopping seasons. When compared with the same period last year, however, 2012 sales will rise 4% in August, and retail foot traffic will increase 1.5%.

DENVER — ShopAtHome.com, a coupon search engine, announced that Tim Mayer has joined the company as VP marketing.
 
In his new role, Mayer will be responsible for spearheading this objective, overseeing user experience and member engagement.

Chicago -- Year-over-year national retail sales and foot-traffic are expected to increase for this August’s back-to-school season, according to ShopperTrak, with the overall sales number coming in 4% higher than last year.

"This increase will follow year-over-year U.S. retail sales growth in 28 of the last 29 months,” said Bill Martin, ShopperTrak founder. “August will present retailers with a tremendous opportunity to take all steps possible to maximize their shopper opportunity and increase conversion rates."

Framingham, Mass. -- When comparing social media investment to other emerging technology areas, retailers more than any other industry are making strong investments, according to a new study by International Data Corp.

Atlanta -- A report by FirstData Corp. found that year-over-year dollar volume growth was 6.4% in June, down from May’s 7.0% growth as continuing high unemployment and economic anxiety caused consumers to pull back on spending. The report tracks same-store consumer spending by credit, signature debit, PIN debit, EBT, closed-loop prepaid cards and checks at U.S. merchant locations.